Strictly Platonic

Sixteen Years Old

At sixteen years old, Cassie and Mitchel lived with their mom full-time in absence of a father. Despite the rather harsh nature of it, Cassie self-admittedly liked this arrangement more. Maybe it was because she was a woman, or a girl or whatever, but she found things easier at her mom's more than she ever did at her dad's. Then again, she had only ever stayed with her dad whilst still going through stages of post-divorce grief. A phase he would never be able to overcome now that he was gone.

Cassie looked at herself in the bathroom mirror. She fixed the loose strands of hair, styling them in a way that seemed naturally beautiful instead of purposefully beautiful. It was a difficult task considering she couldn't really seem one way when doing things another. In the end, she just let her hair be the way it wanted to be naturally and decided that was beautiful enough.

She put on a sweater and slipped her messenger bag over her shoulder. There were some books and journals for school, and she wouldn't really need the bag, but she wanted to bring it with regardless. In a weird way, it made her feel more important and older than if she were without it. Kind of like having a purse except she felt purses made her too feminine and immature. This way, she kind of looked like a freshman in college instead of a junior in high school.

Before she left the apartment, she found Mitchel and Amber in the living room. They were looking through college pamphlets and scholarship forms. He had been adamant about living in a dorm despite Mom's protest about the financial drain.

"I can get a job," he suggested, "and apply for some more scholarships."

Mom looked unconvinced, but at times like this, she could only shrug. That's when they noticed Cassie walking through. A clever smile crept onto her face, one that Cassie did not like seeing.

"Off somewhere?" she asked with an ostensible innocence.

"Just to see a friend," Cassie replied, tugging at the wrinkles in her sweater.

"Oh, really?" Amber had such a playfulness to her that it could be difficult to discern what kind of emotion she was expressing. Even at the most distressful times, she could somehow manage to smile. "Which friend would that be?"

Mitchel nudged her with his elbow. "Leave her be mom. You probably don't even want to know the answer to that question anyway."

Cassie couldn't help but smirk. Like many siblings, they had their troubles throughout the years. In the end, though, it took a little communication and maturity to set things straight. They still had their days, that much was sure, but after their father's incident, they both realized that maybe there wasn't enough time in life to hate someone you love.

Amber looked between them and rolled her eyes. "I swear, you two will be the death of me." She picked up another pamphlet and started flipping through the pages. "Call if you need anything, I guess."

Cassie nodded and headed out the door. She would've asked to borrow the car, but considering she still had yet to finish Driver's Ed, there was no way her mom would agree to that unless Mitchel offered to go along. This little trip was something she wanted to do alone.

On main street, only a few blocks from Mom's apartment, she found the Rooney Hill apartment complex. The apartment was just the upstairs of the brick building. The front was a family bakery that wouldn't open for a few more weeks. The entire place had been remodeled after a recent fire involving a meth lab. No one really expects such crimes in the Midwest, which might be why the fire department wasn't able to put out the building before the fire had consumed it whole. Maybe it was better this way. Wasn't it easier to build from the ruins then to fix what was broken?

Cassie tried the door at the side of the building. It opened into a narrow hallway and led into an even narrower stairwell. How anyone was supposed to move furniture up and down the stairs was far beyond her? The fact that there were two labeled mail slots said at least two people were able to do it. Maybe they moved in before the renovations were finished.